10 Reasons Why You May Need a Career Change

Sometimes the need for a career change pops up at very short notice and rather surprises us with its intensity. Sometimes our need for a career change lingers for a long time, almost festering in the back of our mind, rumbling away and causing us anxiety because we’re not doing anything about it. What are the reasons why we may need a career change? Let’s look at the range of possible issues.

1. Conflict

The immediacy and intensity of career change gets brought up when we are in a situation of conflict, most often with our boss. It is not always a personality clash. Our boss represents the wilful intent of the organisation that we work for and may be representing a party line such as a change process. It may be somebody else has received preferment for promotion. Whatever it is, we end up in a situation where we are on a different side of the argument and it looks like we may lose that argument. That could be a good reason for a career change.

2. It’s Time

You’ve been doing the same thing for a long time. You’ve been working in the same organisation and you’ve got an itch that will only be satisfied by the prospect of doing something different.

3. Underappreciation

There is nothing worse in our professional life than being underappreciated. Underappreciation is not just about your boss not praising you enough; it’s about how people are treating you and the economic return you’re getting for your labour.

4. Stagnation

It may be not only your employer that is taking you for granted but worse – you’re taking yourself for granted. At some point we wake up and think, “Is this all there is?” That may well be the point at which to start considering a change.

5. Your Current Boss

As a result of constant change in organisations it is probable that if you stay in your job for a period you’ll end up working for a number of different bosses. How often have you been delighted to come and work for a new boss with a view into the company? If we are lucky we’ll have a really good relationship with our new boss. However, it may not be the case. This new boss did not hire us. They inherited us and that quite often creates tension.

6. Sense of Purpose

It is all very well spending a huge number of hours every year going to work but at some point we may have to admit that our workplace is actually not what we wanted it to be. The work we’ve been doing has not been fulfilling what we believe to be our purpose in life. When we reach that point in our life, it becomes a really important issue for us. We must be able to feel fulfilled by a sense of purpose in our work.

7. Speed of Progression

We think we’re good. We believe we’re getting better each day. We have a sense of our own worth and self-esteem. However, we’re not progressing up the ranks in our organisation as fast as we’d like.

8. Money

Another element of work is how much we’re being paid. In addition to the monthly pay check we may have stock options or a range of other benefits. If we do not have the compensation package we believe is appropriate for us, we may seek to change careers.

9. New Sector

We’ve been in the same segment of a sector for a long time and can see how our work style might suit another sector in the economy that we can transfer our skills and experience to. That sector can lead to a fresh and exciting opportunity for us.

10. Taking Some Action

Quite often we choose to take a sabbatical when it’s offered to us. When we get that chance to reflect on what we have done so far in our professional life and what we will do in the future, we sometimes realise that we want to take some action in our professional life, to make a change. Taking a sabbatical can be a great opportunity for career valuation and dreaming.

Our ebook Make Your Career Change Happen is packed with practical and easy to follow tips to help you understand what it takes to make a career change successful.